A\N: Written at the prompting of pirateexchange who wanted to see if I could do this pairing. It's both my first Primeval fic and fic for the pairing - constructive criticism is appreciated. Forgive the cheesy title, was drawing blanks on a title for once and had to give it something. Betaread by rodlox.

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He's not Tom. Because Tom is a faint blue, forever cold, his face fixed in sadness and confusion. Instead, here sits a man across from him, warm and bright, blue eyes looking in earnest at him. Yet he avoids the concerned gaze as he picks at his chocolate cake, glancing up briefly every few seconds and swallowing his guilt before his food. A break from their work is everything he doesn't need.

Looking up again, for longer this time, the blue eyes strike him so plainly, painfully. He's not Tom and Connor is shamefully glad because there's no other person he'd rather see opposite him than Stephen I'm-so-brave Hart.

Because Tom was a friend and now he's a dead friend, but Stephen is a colleague trying to be more. But you see, he's actually braver than everyone else in that respect. The others, they have polite smiles and condolences – even bloody Lester said how sorry he was - but they don't want to talk about it. However broken he is by everything, they don't care enough to go that extra step and ask how he really feels.

And it feels to him, that sitting here in this dull café with their knees brushing, neither making an attempt to remove that contact, might mean there is a shared wish to skip that go between stage, maybe.

There's no magic cure for losing a friend but to his surprise Connor thinks he might have to start believing that everything has reason. It can't be bad if something good comes out of the devastating aftermath...can it?